Dragon Age Game Awards Teaser

Not that I expect there was much doubt about it, but this location is definitely Antiva. The video clip on Sean's Artstation is labeled "antiva-shot"

Sorry I must be really stupid but where does is the label "antiva-shot" as I can't seem to see it?

In video's link: https://cdn-animation.artstation.com/p/video_sources/000/207/934/antiva-shot.mp4

My only hope now is that it was just for the trailer, but yeah seems Antiva is doomed due to this game.

That could be the reason. It would be interesting to know who in world is meant to have drawn up this map because may be they don't know about Kal-Sharok and the other missing settlements in the Anderfels. After all, Kal-Sharok is definitely marked on the map at the beginning of World of Thedas but, as you point out, so are those other locations that are totally absent from this one, not even having a small marker. It seems strange if their omission was just carelessness on the part of the out of world designer because of the care they have taken to include all the other locations.

Anyway, let's hope the omission of Kal-Sharok is for a valid in world reason and not that it is not going to be included at all.

I was mainly posting it because of the serpent-like sea creature part. lol But that got me digging and this is interesting. From Gaider himself:

Even so, the ancient elves did write things down, and so some scraps have been recovered. Thus the Dalish have slowly reassembled a religion from those pieces of lore, though how complete it is cannot be known. Even so, a few things are factual. For one, the original elven religion predates the cult of the Old Gods by a long time. Could the Old Gods have been based on the elven gods? Possibly, but there's nothing to suggest the elven gods were ever dragons, and certainly the contempt the Imperium held for elven culture makes it unlikely that they would think elven gods were worth worshipping. Consider also that it was the Old Gods that taught humanity its magic and encouraged them to destroy Arlathan -- why would elven gods do this? One could point to the Forgotten Ones (look at the codex entry on Fen'Harel for their mention) and suggest that they had reason for vengeance, though that would probably be against Fen'Harel and their good brethren and not against the elven people themselves, no? Still, all of that depends on how much of the knowledge given by Dalish tales is complete.

In terms of the elven religion's view of the Maker (or lack thereof), it might be interesting to point out that the elven creation myth doesn't stem from their gods. According to Dalish understanding, Elgar'nan and Mythal, the Father and the Mother, did not create the world. They were born of the world. The world was always there, and while it doesn't indicate the presence of a single creator that made the world it also doesn't necessarily contradict it.

Well this is deliberate misinformation because we now know for certain that one of the elven gods was clearly connected to dragons, plus it seems likely that the others could shapeshift into dragons if they wished, particularly as the sinner in the codex "dared to fly in the shape of the divine". It is possible they adopted some other winged creature but the very fact Mythal refused to show them mercy seems a good indication they did actually take on the dragon form. After all, it is the most powerful winged creature that we know of, so it follows that the Evanuris would have favoured that as their form of choice.

Now what are the chances that we have two completely separate groups of deities that routinely took dragon shape? Well, I suppose, based off the powerful form of the dragon it is possible they developed completely independently of one another, although it seems more likely that the demons that became the Old Gods were trying to imitate the Evanuris at the very least in taking dragon form.

If the human tribes ever saw the Evanuris in their dragon form they may not even have associated them with the elves. After all, they had different names to the elven gods. Again, though, I think DG was giving a bit of misinformation here. The Imperium didn't have contempt for elven culture because they scavenged many powerful objects from the elves. They also clearly had enough respect for the strange humanoids in the Arlathan Forest that initially they attempted peaceful contact, no doubt hoping to establish the same sort of relationship they had with the dwarves. Even when their envoys were slaughtered and all attempts at co-existence were rebuffed it took them many decades before they finally decided enough was enough, probably due to having a new Archon, and did something about it. Even then, when the Imperium was allegedly at the height of its power, the elves were able to withstand them for six years and it was only because it was such a drain on their resources that the Imperium resorted to wholesale destruction to end the deadlock. So the reason they utterly suppressed elven culture in the slaves they captured was probably partly in revenge and also partly to ensure they never became as powerful again because they feared them.

Interesting that he suggests the Forgotten Ones would regard the Creators as their brethren but not the elven people. Of course when he said this we didn't know that neither of these groups were actually gods as distinct from very powerful elven mages. Did either set of gods know it was Fen'Harel alone who was responsible for their imprisonment? In fact surely he would have required some assistance, even if it was only to keep them distracted whilst he put his plan into motion. We also now know that the city in Arlathan Forest was likely dedicated to Andruil and that area was her domain. So if the Forgotten Ones had been at war with Andruil, it seems perfectly likely they would have wanted to avenge themselves on her people. However, as I set out above, initially the Old Gods were promoting the rise of their human worshipers rather than specifically targeting the elves, particularly if their aim was to ultimate set themselves free from their prisons. Also if Gelduran was one of the Forgotten Ones as suggested by the codex about him, he clearly had intention of revenge.

I am Gelduran and I refuse those who would exert their will upon me. Let Andruil’s bow crack, let June’s fire grow cold. Let them build temples and lure the faithful with promises. Their pride will consume them, and I forgotten, will claim power of my own, apart from them until I strike in mastery.

That suggests to me that Gelduran would be only too willing to avenge himself on the worshipers of the Creators and wouldn't be too fussy about who he acquired for himself so long as they did what he wanted them to.

I feel there has to be some connection with the powerful entities of pre-Veil times. Whilst Solas seems to deny a link, he has a tendency to play with words. He said there is nothing in lore to connect his people and the Old Gods but that would be true because naturally human records do not have them and the Chantry lore doesn't mention the elves at all. I certainly believe he knows exactly what the Old Gods are but clearly he chose not to reveal it, even though he could easily have claimed he acquired his knowledge from spirits of the Fade. That also points to a link between them and the ancient elves and that they are connected to his plans in some way.

Hoping for it being in a different game, one where they could focus on it more rather than being part of the half dozen that seem to be in this one thus not fully utilized.
Also wouldn’t hate that game for not having Inky since the plot wouldn’t be about stopping Solas like DA4 is.

I think it was pretty old. Someone may know the exact date it was posted on the old BSN but I think it was probably even before DA2 came out. It was certainly at at time when everything was more vague. Take this statement for example:



After DAI and Trespasser it is very much known and their religion has largely been discredited or at least shown not to have any relation to reality in ancient times. Whereas prior to DAI the elven religion was on a par with the Maker, something that people believed in but could not prove one way or the other as the gods, if they had existed, were shut away in ancient times. So for the Dalish as for the Andrastrians you could argue it was all a matter of faith.

Obviously people were asking if the elven gods and the Old Gods could be related because both were said to have been imprisoned, just by different entities. Then Sebastian even reflected these ideas when speaking with Merrill, asking if perhaps their respective stories were about the same thing, just told in a different way.

So I think DG was talking in a way that was consistent with the question asked and the knowledge of players at the time. However, I think he already knew that the reality was different but was not going to say as much because "spoilers". Unless, of course, the writers were simply making it up as they went along, which is why they constantly seemed to contradict themselves with previous lore and then just trot out the rather trite excuse that the knowledge in-world is evolving, which is why people discover that previous knowledge was incorrect.

As I have pointed out, this has been taken to absurd extremes in some cases though, as it would suggest that all the races have been afflicted with a collective amnesia if important things like the creation of the Veil and its after effects are not part of the collective consciousness and the racial memories because it would have been such a traumatic event. I suppose the reason could be that the Veil itself had that effect on them or some spirits of the Fade made it their business to erase the memories, which we know they can do, but this has never been offered so far by the writers as a reason.

You don't set up the games' lore to be only what's known in-universe if you don't expect that you'll be contradicting a bunch of it later. It's kind of the point of setting up the sources that way.

Whether they knew exactly what would be incorrect is a whole other question.